MovieChat Forums > Battle of the Bulge (1966) Discussion > Was there a difference scene sequence or...

Was there a difference scene sequence or did I re-edit in my head??

posted 10 years ago by hagerp
2 replies | jump to latest

Recorded Bulge from the 2015 Memorial Day Marathon on TCM. This was going to be the first time I saw the entire, uncut movie since I watched it at the Cinerama Dome in Houston, Texas when I was 15. Although scenes that had always been cut for TV viewing were back in the movie, the order was different than I remember.

Here is the order I remember. Everything up to the scene in the bunker where the General shows Col. Hessler (Shaw) the control room and clock was the same. Kessler asks, "With what will I fight?" At this point, my recollection of the movie is that there was a break showing the US side. Then a return to the bunker. The courtesan shows up and that scene plays to its conclusion. The next scene is where the men sing Das Panzerlied. At this point, the scene cuts to Kessler outside going past rows of tanks, marching up to the General, giving the fascist salute and saying, "It can be done!"

The order I saw on TCM was, after the "With what will I fight?", it immediately cuts to the "It can be done!" sequence. This was always the ordering in the heavily edited subsequent TV versions. The courtesan and singing scenes were always eliminated. In the TCM version, after "It can be done", it cuts to the US scenes. When the story shifts back to Kessler, it immediately goes to singing Das Panzerlied. After that it cuts to the courtesan scene. A complete jumble compared to my memory.

I submit my memory of the scene order plays better - the cynical Col Kessler remains unmoved until he sees for the first time the men he will command. It is only after this that he realizes that "It can", indeed, "be done!"

Thematically, the TCM version I saw is an utter mishmash. It is so thematically wrong that I'm inclined to trust my memory. That said, I know quite a bit about the fallibility of human memory and am aware that I sometimes make mistakes.

Is it possible that when the movie was reedited the deleted scenes were stuck into the movie incorrectly?

I submit that what I recollect makes more narrative sense. Almost 50 years after I saw the movie, is this a case of me "fixing the movie" in my head or did someone screw up the re-cut?

Anyone have any insight into the above? Is the TCM version wrong. Is my memory faulty? Was I a better movie maker at age 15 than Ken Annakin?

[–] Lonixcap 10 years ago

No, the TCM version is the roadshow version shown when first released.

50 years is a long time. I saw this in the theater back in 66' on a second run double bill. The only things missing were the overture, intermission and exit music.

[–] mikekrit62 10 years ago

Agreed, there is nothing "wrong" with what TCM showed, it is the original version (and the one shown on TCM actually does have the overture, intermission and exit music included as well). It makes perfect sense.

With all due respect for the OP's abilities as a 15 year old movie maker, I really don't think it's possible to accurately remember the exact order and details of scenes from watching a movie in the theater a half century ago.

When Hessler first arrives, he is skeptical and more than a little cynical. He is not swayed by the "Toys" and promises. But when he sees details of the plans, the fact that the Allies planes will be grounded by bad weather, and more importantly, the brigade of tanks he is to be given, he agrees "It can be done".

In the TCM version, after "It can be done", it cuts to the US scenes. When the story shifts back to Kessler, it immediately goes to singing Das Panzer lied. After that it cuts to the courtesan scene. A complete jumble compared to my memory.

No, it doesn't immediately go to the Panzerlied scene. There is an entire scene before that which is immensely important to the story. It get's to the heart of why Hessler feels it can be done. With Hessler's prodding, Conrad reveals that what he admires about the great men he has served (meaning Hessler), is that when all was lost, these "great men" never lost hope. The "illusion" that there is always "one more chance".

Conrad throws a wet blanket over Hessler's optimism by pointing out this new command is just an "illusion", and it's a mistake to agree to do it. Hessler rebuffs his assessment by recounting his great triumphs of the past which he states were no "illusions", and finishes by saying that when he has a brigade of tiger tanks as he does now, "that is reality".

Conrad brings him up short by reminding him his past triumphs were with veteran soldiers. "Are there any left?" he asks. He uses his own example of jumping in a ditch at the sight of a recon plane. "I was beside you in Poland, France, the Crimea...Look at me! I'm not the same man." He concludes by asking, "How sure can you be of the men who will drive your tanks?" This renews Hessler's original doubts, and that is when he asks to see his tank commanders.

Now comes the Panzerlied scene, where his better judgement is finally overruled. He seems to chooses the illusion rather than reality.

Also, the courtesan scene doesn't come right after the Panzerlied scene. That happens after they go back to the Americans, where we meet Telly Savalas, Charles Bronson, James MacArthur and George Montgomery. It makes sense that Kohler would send her as a thank you of sorts after Hessler finally agrees to lead the panzers. Sending her before that seemed like a clumsy bribe that was sure to antagonize Hessler rather than win him over.